WORCESTER — It doesn't take long to realize why so many people think Telegram & Gazette Visions Young Leader award recipient Amy R. Mosher is great at her job.

It could be a lot of things — her varied experience; her robust educational background; her upbringing. But it becomes apparent rather quickly that the way she talks about instilling a sense of confidence and empowerment in her clients at Workforce Central — job seekers, some of whom have been unemployed, or underemployed, for brutally long stretches — is the way she lives her life. She really does walk the walk.

“I look at passion, value, and demand,” said Ms. Mosher, strategy and innovation leader for Workforce Central, an employment center operated by Worcester and the state. “What value do they bring to the marketplace? Who is going to hire them for their product or service right now?”

The Young Leader award is given to a Central Massachusetts resident in the early stages of his or her career. It includes a $2,500 cash prize and recognizes outstanding achievement in private business, professional life or community leadership.

Ms. Mosher, 34, will receive the award March 11 at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. Other awards are for public service, cultural enrichment, academic achievement and the Isaiah Thomas award. U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern is keynote speaker.

Ms. Mosher has been able to achieve that rare combination in today's workplace: marrying her passions and values to the career path she has chosen.

She joined Workforce Central after trying to make a pitch to the organization for more collaborative projects. The pitch didn't work out, but she was later recommended for a position with the STEMpower program. The program, which ran until last year, gathered job seekers, employers, education and training providers around job development in science, technology, engineering and math.

Among many other things, Ms. Mosher now runs a series of entrepreneurship workshops for people who may have lost their jobs, have had trouble finding work, and have a desire to start their own business. By offering what Ms. Mosher describes as “reality checking,” self-assessment tools, and the opportunity to make pitches and get feedback from other entrepreneurs, the workshops help people get a realistic sense of whether they are qualified to sustain themselves in business. It's not for everyone, she said.

“If you're not willing to take the risk, you are probably not going to be in business very long,” Ms. Mosher said.

And even if the workshop participants don't end up going into business for themselves, they develop an “entrepreneurial mindset” that makes them much more attractive to employers. Plus, it's something to tell a potential employer besides the fact that they have been unemployed and looking for work, she said.

An environmental studies and Spanish language graduate of the University of Vermont, Ms. Mosher also infuses her Workforce duties with green concepts. She holds a green careers workshop every other month, and said part of her initial duties with Workforce was conducting outreach to employers about green jobs.

Ms. Mosher came back to Central Massachusetts after college as an AmeriCorps volunteer in Main South in 2001. That led to her pursuit of a master's degree in community development from Clark University. Ms. Mosher said that period of time saw her transition from the science end of environmental studies to the human side of community development work. Several years followed during which Ms. Mosher used her own entrepreneurial skills to cobble together a living; at one point, she said, she held seven part-time jobs.

She never lost hope, however. She said she has a strong entrepreneurial bloodline in her family. A constant source of encouragement was her grandmother, Sydelle Eisler, who died in Sept. 2011.

Hearing Ms. Mosher talk about her father, however, seemed to reveal the true source of what keeps her motivated. She said John Mosher was the oldest of nine children in a working class family brought up south of Boston. He was an iron worker and Marine Corps veteran before retiring. Ms. Mosher said he was outspoken and controversial, and would “get let-go a lot.” But he would always say there was no such thing as unemployment — it was just a period between gigs. He was a handyman. He did carpentry. He drove around with his daughter in the pickup truck, selling picnic tables he built.

“He would create a new craft,” she said. “He had multiple big magnets stored in the garage. He would go out and pick a magnet for the pickup that would define what kind of job he would do that day.”

Ms. Mosher said another well of inspiration comes from her longtime friendship with Reed Nixon. When they were in high school together, Mr. Nixon and his brother were both paralyzed in a van accident in 1995. Ms. Mosher said that the times she has strayed from her passions, she thinks about her friend and regains perspective.

“Life is very precious,” she said. “Why not fulfill our full potential today?”

Ms. Mosher lives in Worcester, and said she is grateful to be able to give back to a community she says has given her so much.

“I'm really inspired,” she said. “I feel like I'm very fortunate to be in this position that I'm in. It's very rewarding to be able to believe in people before they even believe in themselves.”

The 2012 Visions Community Awards program is free and open to the public. RSVP by e-mailing Katy Donahue at kdonahue@telegram.com or call (508) 793-9332.

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